Codes and communication
by SilentRaven97
Summary: 5 times Sherlock and John communicated through codes and one time they didn't.
1. Chapter 1: Notes about milk

**Codes and communication**

 **Chapter 1: Notes about milk.**

John pov.

John is making a list of the groceries he needs for when he goes to Tesco's. It's early morning and he has a shift at the hospital before he can go shopping, which is the reason for the list in the first place.

 _Milk_

 _Beans_

 _Bread_

 _Paper towels_

 _Scissors_

 _Kettle_

'I think I have everything' John murmurs. He still didn't know what the goal of Sherlock's experiment with the kettle and the scissors was, but both hadn't survived, though it nearly set the table on fire.

John decided to write a note to Sherlock he's going shopping after his shift. Now he only needed to think of a way to get Sherlock to pay attention to it, and maybe even keep him from shooting the wall in boredom a bit longer. His phone had also melted in the experiment which destroyed the kettle and the scissors but Sherlock had said he would get him a new one, and not to worry about it. He knew the perfect way: a coded note. That would keep Sherlock occupied and not bored for some time, hopefully. He stuck he note to the fridge and left.

The note

 _Gvsfzcqy, W'a ucwbu hc Hsgqc'g othsf am gvwth. W kwzz ps poqy ofcibr tcif, obr wt Zsghfors qozzg opcih o qogs, zsojs o bchs, psqoigs W rcb'h vojs o dvcbs. Hfm bch hc rsghfcm hvs tzoh wb hvs asobhwas. Xcvb_

Sherlock pov.

When Sherlock came out of his mind-palace this morning, he discovered John had already left. Remembering John said something about a shift at the hospital he got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee, the kettle was broken so tea was not an option. Not that he would ever make his own tea, or coffee for that matter, if he didn't have to but Mrs. Hudson had left for her sister's yesterday.  
When he was stirring the sugar into his coffee he discovered a note, stuck on the door of the fridge. He pulled it off and walked back to the couch. Setting his coffee down on the floor at his feet, he focused on the obviously coded message. 'Thoughtful of John to think of something like this to keep his mind busy and give him the information he needed at the same time.' It took multiple tries and fifteen minutes, but he got it. John was smarter than he gave him credit for if he could come up with this after he woke up early in the morning.

Decoded note

Sherlock, I'm going to Tesco's after my shift. I will be back around four, and if Lestrade calls about a case leave a note, because I don't have a phone. Try not to destroy the flat in the meantime. John

Sherlock, happy now he had decoded the note took a sip of his now cold coffee. Deciding he didn't like cold coffee, he walked to the kitchen and put his coffee in the microwave. However the microwave decided that after the experiments of the past month, he'd rather explode than heat coffee. So a few minutes later Sherlock left the kitchen, with a smoking microwave and a new note on the fridge: John we need a new microwave. -SH

 **AN: to decode the note you need to shift the alphabet around. A is o, b is p, c is q etc.  
I found this in the second coded message on the thesienceofdeduction website. **


	2. Chapter 2: mute because of the dentist

**Chapter 2: mute because of the dentist.**

Sherlock is sitting on the couch, bored and annoyed because he can't talk for at least another hour. Stupid dentist, stupid anaesthesia. He looked at John and hoped he would get the hint.  
John was of course wondering why Sherlock was staring at him continually. He eventually said 'Sherlock I can't read minds if you want me to understand text or something.' In reaction Sherlock just tapped with his fingers on the arm of the couch. John looked at him, not understanding. Sherlock did it again: -.. /..-/ .-.. 'Are you tapping Morse at me?' John asked incredulous, 'why don't you text?' -../ ..-/ .-.. (dull) Sherlock repeated. 'Of course, I should have remembered you never take the easy way to do something when you're without a case.'  
-/ -…/ …-/ ../ -/ ..-/ …/ .-../ -.-/ (obviously). 'what did you want then?' -.-./ -/ ..-./ ..-./ . /. /(coffee). 'Sherlock, you can make coffee yourself if you want it so much.' John answered, indignant. -…/ -/ .-./ ../ -./ -./ (boring). 'How on earth did you not die of dehydration without me?' -/ .-./ …/ / …./ ..-/ -../ …/ -/ -./ (Mrs. Hudson). John sighed, 'it's a good thing you don't live in the Victorian era, you would have died of starvation without take-away.' Sherlock made some strange sounds in reaction, it took John a minute to understand he was laughing even though it was not really possible because of the anaesthesia. …/ ./ .-./ …-/ .-/ -./ -/ …/ / .-/ -/ …./ -./ (Servants John). 'Touché' John laughed.  
After a few minutes Sherlock pouted at John. 'Fine, I'll make you coffee, but you are making me tea at least once tomorrow.' Sherlock just grinned at him charmingly, and john knew Sherlock wasn't going to make that tea, ever. But he still got up and went to the kitchen to make coffee, and some more tea, he was already in the kitchen so why not.

 **AN: I made a mistake in the last AN it is the first coded message not the second, apologies. I hope you like this chapter. If there is a code you would like me to use, tell me and I'll see if it fits** **:)**

 **AN2: ff net did something strange to the morse code, I fixed it now(and Ihope it works now).  
/ space between 2 letters  
/ /space between 2 words  
**


	3. Chapter 3: upside down

**AN: sorry for the trouble with chapter two, here's a new chapter. I hope you like it. Raven**

 **Chapter 3: Upside down.**

 _Sherlock, come to NSY, John has been kidnapped.- GL_

Sherlock shot up from the couch after reading Lestrade's text, he thought John had gone to Sarah's but it seems he didn't make it there, again.

 _I'm on my way.- SH_

How did Lestrade know that John was kidnapped before he did. Sherlock mused in the cab. Oh of course, the kidnappers must have contacted the met instead of him. Seeing how they had solved a case with a serial kidnapper yesterday, he could safely assume for now that the kidnapper must have an insulted family member that took offence to the yard locking up his brother/ cousin/ nephew.

Arriving at the yard he walked to Lestrade office, taking the stairs to at a time.  
'Show me the information' he demanded the moment he walked through the door.

Lestrade pointed at his chair, 'sit' he ordered, and he started the clip the kidnapper had made.

The tape showed John bound to a chair with tie wraps around his ankles and wrists. Sherlock ignored the standard kidnapper speech and focused on the strange hand movements John was making, but those were apparently not noticeable to the kidnapper as anything other than stretching his fingers because he didn't stop him. 'Hmm, young male voice, it's the brother from the serial abductor from yesterdays case' Sherlock concluded absently.

Lestrade noted this down and went to get coffee. When he returned Sherlock was hanging upside down in his chair. Head hanging from the edge of the seat, and his legs dangling over the back. 'What on earth are you doing Sherlock?!' 'John is using sign language to give us his location, but he doing it upside down. It is to annoying to read it while sitting up, it's easier this way.' 'What does he say? Lestrade asked. '2 2 0 C. He's being kept at Baker street 220 C' Sherlock shouted suddenly, and ran out of the office. Lestrade followed after him, shouting orders at the other officers around.

After 30 busy minutes John had been freed from the chair, and the brother was taken to the yard and but in a cell next to his brother.  
'I hate being abducted' john pouted when they were back in the living room. Sherlock just smiled happy to have John back with him. 'But seriously John, sign language, you should be glad I did not delete it years ago. If I had, you would still be stuck in that chair.' Phew, Í'm glad you didn't.' John laughed, relieved.

'Tea?'


	4. Chapter 4: Sherlock doesn't get it

**Chapter 4: Sherlock doesn't get it.**

 _H0LM35, 54R4H 4SK3D 1F 1 C0ULD F1LL 1N F0R 4 F3W H0UR5 4F73R MY 5H1F7, 50 1 W1LL 83 H0M3 L473R 7H4N N0RM4L. D0N'7 W0RRY 1'LL 571LL 8R1N6 M1LK 4ND HYDR063N P3R0X1D3. 73X7 1F 50M7H1N6 R37LLY 1MP0R74N7 C0M35 UP, 1F N07, 1'LL 83 H0M3 47 F1V3.  
W4750N._

John left this message stabbed to the mantle with the knife, wondering how long it would take for Sherlock to text him that this way of coding was stupid and childish. He knew Sherlock decoded his message in fifteen minutes the first time he left a note like this, this time it would likely cost him less time to read it than it took John to write it. Grinning John put on his jacket and left.

When Sherlock wandered into the living room half an hour later, he spotted the note on the mantle and smiled. John had left him a coded note again. These didn't take up much of his time, but it was amusing to decode stuff when there was no pressure and he could easily get a cup of coffee before he started without having to worry about the time he was taking. So that was exactly what he did: walked to the kitchen, made himself a cup of coffee, took the note from the mantle and plopped on the couch after setting his cup down on the coffee table.

 **Several hours later**

 **John this code doesn't make sense at all, there is no logic in the combination of numbers and letters this way.- SH**

John hears his phone buzz in his desk, and checked the message immediately because his next patient would arrive in five minutes. After reading the text he looked at his phone for a few seconds, shocked, before he started laughing.

 **And I was thinking you would see it in seconds, kids use this way of coding messages often. Don't complicate it too much and you'll see the solution. :) – JW**

Sherlock grumbled at his phone when he read Johns answer and settled down to try again.

 **At five o'clock**

'Sherlock some help please' John asked from the doorway. 'Busy' was the only reply he got. John huffed and hauled the groceries to the kitchen on his own.  
'What are you doing?' John asked perplexed when he saw his note stuck on the wall with all kinds of coding mechanisms surrounding it. 'trying to decode your annoying note!' Sherlock shouted. John smiled 'Go sit down I'll make some tea and explain, alright?'. 'Fine' Sherlock walked to his chair and waited, pouting because he still didn't understand.

That evening Mrs. Hudson wondered why she could hear Sherlock shout angrily while John was laughing, hard. Most of the time they were both shouting or both laughing.

 **AN: anyone who can decode this him/herself can say that they are smarter than my version of Sherlock when it comes to the easy codes ;p**


	5. Chapter 5:Sherlock's note

**AN: I'm on fire. two chapters in one day. enjoy  
**

 **Chapter 5: Sherlock's note**

This time it was John who found the flat empty in the morning with a note left on the fridge.  
John took the note and his tea to his chair and put it down. Finding a pen and another piece of paper he sat down to read.

Note

 _Mdmtwkryoyaetiidmyccsalniitrahkltnihosoebinkofeulemewltfloberemhodnafbrearngcoues._

John blinked a few times because of the lack of spaces, knowing Sherlock this meant that if he had added spaces it would make even less sense so he left them out. He started with replacing letters but that didn't work out no matter which way he did it. So he changed his methods to shuffling the letters around.

Sherlock looked surprised when he got a text two and a half hours after he left the flat, John was still asleep when he left, he wondered if John would have solved it already.

 **Go get the milk yourself, you git. –JW**

Apparently, yes he had.

 **Boring –SH**

 **I'm not going out in the rain just because you don't want to take a detour on your way back. –JW**

 **Fine, I'll do it. But only if you get the skull back from Mrs. Hudson.-SH**

Five minutes later:  
 **Done-JW**

 **On my way to Tesco. –SH**

Sherlock sighed when he got in the cab 'to the nearest Tesco please'. This was going to be horrible.

 **AN: challenge: try to decode this one yourself. I will reveal the solution at the beginning of the next chapter.**


	6. Chapter 6: Dinner 'conversation'

**AN: sorry to the person who wants to see pig latin, sadly I am not familiar with this term. this is also the last chapter of this story. but fist: the decoded note from the previous chapter. enjoy**

Decoded note

 _Mycroft had a case for me, shouldn't take long. Will be back in time for dinner. Buy milk we're out. Holmes_

 **Chapter 6: Dinner 'conversation'**

John and Sherlock were having dinner in the living room, because the kitchen table was in use for science. Well, john was having dinner, Sherlock was looking at his food like it was going to eat him the second he looked away. After a few minutes John looked up and stared at Sherlock. Knowing he would understand that the look meant eat.  
Sherlock pulled up one eyebrow as if asking why. The only answer he got was a pointed look.  
Sherlock looked back at his food, scooped up some of it on his fork and…. Put it down again.

John glared at him evilly, which Sherlock correctly interpreted as, if you don't eat it yourself I _will_ spoon-feed you again.  
Mycroft walked into the flat just in time to see Sherlock eat while looking slightly fearful at the doctor. Wondering what on earth de doctor did to get him to eat without sulking.

'A Mycroft, have you had dinner yet?' John asked pleasantly 'we ordered a bit too much.' 'No, but that isn't why I came here.' 'Sit down, I'll get you a plate.' John got up and id as he said. When he came back in the living room and saw Mycroft still standing, he pushed him down and handed him his dinner. Mycroft opened his mouth to protest, but seeing the look John gave him he suddenly understood.

When Anthea came in fifteen minutes later wondering why her boss wasn't back yet, she stopped in the doorway, shocked. Looking at the two Holmes brothers eating without protest she exclaimed 'How on earth did you do that?!

 **The end**


End file.
